Link jumped off his cot with renewed vigor. He seemed ready to take command.

"Alright," he began, talking to Taiga, "What's our current state of affairs? Are there enough weapons? How many are there? Did you find any of my companions?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, bigshot," interrupted Taiga, "I don't think you're ready to be commanding a troop just yet."

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly healthy!"

"Yeah... That's why your clothes look like moths have eaten them, you have numerous wounds, I mean, you've been impaled for crying out loud! It's a marvel you can even stand!"

"What can I say?" Link was about to answer his own question when he felt really lightheaded. "Whoa."

"Yeah, that's what I mean," said Taiga. He led Link back to the cot and set him down.

"I don't understand," said Link. "I never felt like this before."

"That's probably because you ignored it, suppressed it, because you knew you had a job to do. Well, here, you can take some time to rest. You need it," replied Taiga.

"Yeah, but-" Link was about to finish when his eyes opened wide in surprise. "No. Way."

Princess Ruto was standing in the doorway.

"Yes, we managed to get her away from harm and down here," said Taiga.

"Why?" asked Link. "Er... I mean... Great!" Ruto giggled.

"Hello, Link."

"Hi," responded Link indifferently.

"What are you using that tone with me for?"

"What tone?"

"That one!"

"What are you babbling about?"

The chatter just kept going. Taiga could see that this wasn't going to end anytime soon without some intervention. It might be fun to watch though... No, he wasn't quite that cruel. He stepped in front of Ruto.

"Please, your highness, Link needs rest."

"And he also needs to shape up his attitude!" defied Ruto.

"Oh, go jump in a fish," shouted Link back.

"What?! I swear, I will personally-"

The door slammed in her face. Taiga spoke.

"I have a bad feeling that I'm going to regret that," he said.

"Yeah, you will, she has a way of doing that."

"Thanks for the reassurance."

"No problem."

There was silence for a few more moments. Then Taiga decided that it was time to move to more.. important matters.

"Well, in answer to your questions, there's about 30 or so of us, all battle-ready. As for weapons, we just need armor, we use it with our fins as weapons. We have enough armor. Don't know if there's anything else to tell you."

"When do we start?"

"We?"

"Okay, when do you start?"

"Dunno. When do you wanna start?"

"As soon as possible, Ganondorf will be on the move by now."

"Right," responded Taiga. "I'll handle all the recon and such. In the meantime, you need to get some rest."

"Yeah, whatever..."

With that, Taiga left the room, to plan some battle strategies.

Taiga pored over some old maps of Zora's Domain. This was a mess. Their secret cavern was in a strategically disadvantaged position for offensives. For defense it was superb, with only two choke points, one submerged in water. This construction, however was terrible for offense, as the water chokepoint led to the lake, which was easily seen, and the land chokepoint led just outside the Throne Room, which was blocked off by rocks.

The only way out of this place was through the lake, but that was strategically disadvantaged spot, as getting up towards the Throne Room would prove no easy task. Taiga was still deliberating how to proceed when a scout burst upon the scene.

"Taiga, they're troops are massing," he said through quick breathes, "They know we're here."

"What? How?" replied Taiga.

"I don't know, they were talking about 'crushing the Zora Resistance scum'."

Taiga swore. They didn't have much time.

"But I do have some good news," continued the scout.

"And what's that?" asked Taiga.

"Their defenses are nearly nonexistent, they're taking every last troop, which means an appearance in the lake would go largely unnoticed. They think out only way in is the Throne Room passage."

"Perfect," Taiga said to himself. "Seal off that passage, blow up some rock, do whatever you have to do to make it unenterable. This time, we make the first move."

"Yes sir," replied the scout, running off to see to Taiga's orders.

Now Taiga had an advantage. At nightfall, he would take every troop, and move out of the cave into the lake, attacking the moblins at their weakest point. Surprise would be the key element. With their speed, they would be able to lay waste to the entire cadre with minimal loss. Of course, it wouldn't be easy, but the small catwalks and large lake would make for a more one-to-one oriented battle, which the Zoras could handle easily. If needbe, they could fall back to the lake, and strike at a different area.

Now that Taiga had a plan, troops, and an opportunity, the Zoras would retake their homeland. At nightfall, lightning would strike.

Taiga and his strike team geared up for this mission. It was almost midnight, and the night was ripe for battle. Soon, his entire team was ready for their deadly excursion.

"You all know the plan. Let's do it."

Taiga gave these orders and soon the company moved out. They scaled the wall up towards the Throne Room. They halted on a ledge to send out a scout to see where the enemy was.

The Zora scout was soon back with the news that they were putting the finishing touches on their forces. Every moblin was either tense or totally oblivious, usually the latter. They were completely oblivious to their presence. If the Zoras blindsided them, they would take serious injury.

"Alright, let's do it," said Taiga.

The Zora commander peered over the ledge into the spacious Throne Chamber. Moblins gathered from all around. He looked back at the stairs. Those stairs to enter the throne room only allowed single file. There were thousands of moblins stuck on those steps. If he could simply get one off, every one would be forced to engage them in single combat... Which they could easily win.

"We're going for the stairs," he whispered. The Zoras were soon right under the ledges. Taiga gave the signal, and in near unison, 25 moblins screamed and fell off the ledge, with Zoras ready to take their place.

As the mad rush to kill them began, moblins were felled like grain. Some were pushed off by other moblins, some simply lost their footing, and others were thrown off by the Zoras. Only one moblin could possibly face a Zora at a time, and thus nearly half their force was destroyed. Finally they had the sense to stop coming.

Taiga stood near the entrance to the Throne Room by the stairs. Around one hundred moblins glared at him menacingly. Their chieftain, Kreg, stood at the head of them.

"Come on, you filthy sea rats! Come and face us!"

Taiga laughed. "If you're so strong come out and face me!"

"Very well."

Taiga was taken aback a little. He hadn't expected his taunt to be taken seriously. But at least he might be able to kill their leader now.

Kreg approached Taiga with a sword in one hand, and a chain with shards on it in the other. The stairs were only a couple feet wide. There was no room to maneuver. The shard chain might cause some problems, but Taiga was ready.

Kreg bellowed and swung his sword. Taiga blocked in an arm blade and brought his fist into Kreg's gut. Kreg gasped as the air left his lungs, but he soon retaliated. With his chain he slashed Taiga, ripping out chunks of flesh with stinging precision. Taiga kicked at Kreg, but he wrapped the chain around his leg. Kreg chuckled and prepared to throw Taiga off, but the Zora was ready.

He brought his other leg around and double kicked Kreg, dropping them both to the floor. Kreg shoved him off and brought up his sword to finish him, but Taiga rolled. Kreg cut his own chain, leaving part of it lodged in Taiga's leg.

The moblin snorted and came again. Taiga blocked and went on the offensive, striking Kreg again and again. The moblin slipped, he was almost off the stairs! As he fell, he grabbed the chain on Taiga's leg, tearing off the flesh of the Zora. Taiga yelled in pain, and fell off the stairs. Kreg's hand found the ledge, but Taiga kept plummeting like a rock into the dark abyss. No one heard the splash of his body or crunch of his bones, but he was surely finished.

Kreg pulled himself up, and laughed.

"Where's your strength now!" he taunted. The next Zora came up to fight, but Kreg knocked him off the ledge like a rag doll. The same thing happened with the next Zora, and the next, and soon they were running.

"Get 'em boys!"

The moblins were in full pursuit of the remaining Zoras, as they sprinted for the lake.

Taiga's eyes opened quickly. He was in black and murky water. Was he dead? No.. he pain in his leg was certainly of this life. Blood trickled within the water next to him. Wait... Where was he in the lake? Surely the moblin could not have sent him to the center. Oh no...

Taiga began to swim for shore, but it was too late. The monster had caught the blood's scent. It was on the hunt. Taiga couldn't swim very fast, but he couldn't see anything either. Maybe it had not seen him. But the water suddenly seemed to grow blacker. Taiga could see a shelf. He was near shore!

But then something caught his leg. A tentacle. Taiga swore, and cut at it with his fin. It was soon cut, but more came for him. In a mad rush for survival, Taiga tried to sever all the tentacles whilst still swimming for shore. But the tentacles just kept coming. And soon the water grew darker in front of him.

The gaping maw of the horror opened to swallow Taiga whole. But it suddenly cringed in pain! There was something on top of the water. Taiga looked back as the tentacles released him to fight this new threat. He swam to the nearby shore, scrambling out of the water. He quickly turned to see his savior, but the water swallowed it before he could recognize it.

Silence prevailed for a short time. Taiga was puzzled. What went on under the peaceful surface? But soon that surface was no longer peaceful. The enormous form of the horror breached the water, black bile spewing from it's head. Something flew away from the gargantuan cut on the monster, slamming into the rock next to Taiga. The monster bellowed and fell, dead in the water.

Taiga ran over to whatever had saved him.

"Call it even?"

Link breathed hard as he said those words.

"Sure," said Taiga, offering him a hand up. "But there's no time to lose, we have to go help the strike team and defeat the moblins!"

Link nodded and they ran off to find the Zoras.

By this time, the remaining Zoras were diving into the lake, away from the moblins. They were at the middle height of the precipice. The remaining moblins, numbering about 30, were behind Kreg, as he looked down towards the water and swore repeatedly. And then he heard footsteps.

He turned to see Taiga and Link running up the path.

"You again! I thought I wasted you, whelp!" bellowed Kreg at Link. The moblin expected Link to stop and come back with a witty remark, but he and the Zora just kept running.

"My turn!" shouted Link, bringing his sword up. Before Kreg could do anything, he was impaled by the Master Sword. The remaining moblins were dumbstruck, and soon they were attacked by Taiga. Kreg collapsed on the ground and Link joined Taiga in slaughtering the frightened moblins.

Soon after, Link was cleaning his blade and Taiga breathing heavily. They had done it. They had won. Just barely. There was a faint grunt from behind Link. Still on his fighting instincts Link whirled around to see a battered Kreg, rise from his prostrate position.

"Heh, that was a pretty good move, kid," he said. "I commend you. But now you must die!"

Kreg had failed to see Taiga, who using Link's back as a springboard sailed toward the shocked Moblin. The Zora leaped into the air, flying with both feet forward.

"Surfs up!"

Kreg was caught by Taiga and they both sailed of the ledge. The moblin was soon made a living surfboard when they landed in the water, and just before Kreg's body crunched into a rock spire, Taiga backflipped off, diving into the water with a spectacular splash.

After the battle, the Zoras began to re-explore their homeland, cleaning out the muck and the mire. The Domain was far from fully restored, but some of its old gleaming majesty was shining through in the rocks again.

As Link gathered his equipment and saddled up to return to Kakariko, Taiga came up to him.

"I'll let you know when we need to meet to talk about Ganondorf," said Link.

"Yeah, guess this is it. I'll see you then," said Taiga.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Link. "I forgot to congratulate you on that move you pulled on that moblin chieftain. It was..." Link paused. Taiga gave him a suggestion.

"The best thing ever?"

Link chuckled and saddled up, waving as he made his way out of Zora's Domain.